The village of Bukit Pelandok, is today a quarantined ghost town. 80 people died here from Nipah, a strange new virus that killed their pigs and then killed them. Spread by contact with infected animals the virus is the newest entry on the sobering list of zoonoses, or animal diseases that pass to humans. AIDS and Ebola are on also on the list. By this year, a massive cull was all that could be done to stop Nipah spreading. Wheezing, blotched pigs were shot while potentially infected pigs were thrown into pits and buried. But while the cull has slowed the Nipah crisis in Malaysian pigs, the virus has been busy infecting new species. Two racing horses have recently died, while the disease has since been found in dogs and cats. New Malaysian Veterinary video reveals the researchers' next worry - rats roaming infected farms, right next to the new Kuala Lumpur airport. The warning from experts studying Nipah is ominous; "We see this as another instance of a world-wide trend where diseases previously unknown to science are rapidly emerging."

Produced by ABC Australia